Friday 7/7/2023 & the Weekend: Mercury in the Driver’s Seat; News, News, News

TGIF!!

Here’s a recap of the Forecast for the weekend:

• SATURDAY. Inspired communication is favored this morning, as Moon trines Mercury at 5:55 AM ET, followed by a meet-up with Neptune at 11:21 AM ET. Beach day! Depth is added to the mix around 2:21 PM ET, as Moon sextiles Pluto. At 3:19 PM ET, see if you notice the change in pace as the Moon enters me-me-me Aries, ready to get something started before the rest of the competition. Get out your rose-colored glasses and your vision board; the sky is the limit.
• SUNDAY: Moon in Aries continues to cruise through to cosmos without interference or input from the rest of the kids in the sandbox. It’s still oh-so-rosy, reflecting Mercury’s trine to Neptune (in effect all weekend), exact at 7:57 PM ET. Music, dreams, spirits, poetry, water, healing — these are all upsides of Mercury with Neptune. A reckoning may arise around 9:47 PM ET, as the me-me-me Aries Moon squares the family and emotional security agenda of the Cancer Sun. Meanwhile, this is the last full day of Mars in regal Leo, suggesting an urgent day of expression for those inclined to howl about entitlement. Keep an eye on the former guy, as Mars in the last degrees of Leo impacts him personally, in case we haven’t already heard.

No sleeping in on MONDAY. The Aries Moon will not be void, so get up and get going, now armed with a new action plan that puts a great priority on efficiency in every detail, as opposed to a dazzling, “because I said so” execution. Why? Because at 7:40 AM ET, Mars leaves Leo and enters Virgo. Perfection and correctness; hypochondria and anxiety; these are apt topics for conflict and combat until August 27th, when Mars enters Libra. Mars in Virgo is an excellent time for analysis and adjustment in matters of health, diet, and work routines. I would not be surprised to hear more headlines of labor disputes (especially about work environments and comparisons to slave labor) over the next six weeks.

This weekend may be a banner one for investigative reporters and others who deliver “news from underground.” I say this because at 4:47 PM ET on Monday, Mercury (how we need to think and communicate) and Pluto (power and resources; depth, transformation; corruption revealed) will oppose each other.

Anyhoo…

I am inspired to offer this Friday news round-up because so many this week’s headlines aptly reflected what I wrote on Monday:

Mercury — how we need to think and communicate — is the star player this week.

…because it was the only planet other than the Moon making exact contact with the other planets. Mercury sextiled technogeek Uranus on Wednesday. It will trine woo-woo Neptune on Sunday, and oppose “news from underground” Pluto on Monday. Plus, in the chart for Monday’s Full Moon, we noted:

“Learning” and “messaging” reinforce Mercury’s “star player” status this week. Astrologer Blain Bovee suggests we apply these Symbols with an openness to knowledge from unexpected sources, even if the knowledge is presented in a rudimentary or alien form. We could also take the Symbol for the Sun literally, and keep an eye on China.

Ready?

• “Meta launches Instagram Threads in a direct challenge to Twitter”  This is should be no surprise to Avid Readers of this Forecast or Avid Listeners of Off the Charts: A Stellar Newscast, because Mark Zuckerberg’s  horoscope (what we know of it), can profit from extremely persuasive patterns over the next two years. So far, Meta claims that 70 million people have signed up for Threads, though since you have to have an Instagram account to get a Threads account, one theory is that these 70 million people are mostly Instagram users.
• Threads launched  — ahead of schedule — during Wednesday’s Aquarius Moon, hours before a disruptive square to Uranus — surprise, surprise. Millions may be switching because Twitter has been made so not user-friendly, but before you go rushing to Zuck’s latest creation, take note of these caveats.  I haven’t been inspired to set up camp on Threads; Twitter is a mess, and all the other platforms  (Mastadon, Spoutible, Post, BlueSky) make me feel like Sisyphus.  And yet…being connected in a community of like-minded souls is so key in this New Age of Air (post-2020). What platforms are you using, dear Avid Reader? Do tell!
• As if on cue, “New social media platforms are exhausting us,” says the Washington Post. Indeed. And it is interesting that there was so much energy focused on joining the new communication channel, compared to focusing on the new world record highs that were set on Earth this week. And by highs, I am referring to temperatures.
• From historian Heather Cox Richardson: “Judge Terry A. Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction saying the First Amendment prevents the government from trying to stop the spread of disinformation”  This is an important story, as I’ve said more than once here and on Off the Charts how we are likely to see a mind-boggling expansion in the diversity of information channels, especially in Fall 2024, challenging our ability to know what’s for real.
• “Five ways AI could destroy the world”
• “Five ways AI could improve the world”
• “Harvard professor believes he’s found fragments of alien technology“
• “Tourist who engraved names into Coliseum apologizes; says he didn’t know it was old”
• “‘Lord’s Prayer’ opening may be ‘problematic,’ says Archbishop.” There are shades of patriarchal Saturn here,  reviewing progress as it retrogrades through empathetic Pisces. This story jumped out at me because earlier this week I dreamed I was singing the opening of this song, and yes, there is an astro-logical correlation, given current transits in my horoscope.

In other news…

Mars at the end of Leo suggests dramatic actions, consistent with being at a crisis point, and/or at the end of a phase of action:

• “US set to destroy last of huge arsenal of chemical weapons”
• “‘Terrible mistake’: human rights groups decry US decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine”
• “Objects resembling explosives placed on top of nuclear plant in Ukraine.” Keeping an eye on the week of July 17th.

Meanwhile…

UPDATE: on Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO). On Monday, a review of his new book noted his  “weird fixations, which I noted were no doubt a reflection of transiting Neptune making challenging contacts to his rigid Mercury-Saturn square. Neptune dissolves whatever it touches, and if what it touches is a pattern that suggests a severe, disciplined or controlling mindset, we could expect an element of the surreal or flat-out unreal to manifest. An upside potential would be sublime inspiration, and astrologers have to wait and see how the individual brings it to life. Hawley made news again this week when he, as reported by Heather Cox Richardson:

sent a tweet attributing to founder Patrick Henry a false quotation saying that “this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” Historian Seth Cotlar noted that the quotation actually came from the April 1956 issue of a virulently antisemitic white nationalist magazine, The Virginian.

Anyone who has planets at 27 degrees of Gemini, Virgo, Pisces, and Sagittarius may be feeling a bit foggy in matters related to the planet impacted by Neptune. Consult your local astrologer for details.

UPDATE: Avid Readers may recall that at the beginning of June, we would expect U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to be in a bit of a break-out period, as patterns in her horoscope suggest a need for greater freedom of expression. This week she traveled to China, where she has already made news by speaking out against “controls.”  Astrology is amazing!

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Have a fabulous weekend.

Thank you for reading — and sharing — this Forecast.